Hopkins: I want to be undisputed champion at 50

Bernard Hopkins wants to become the undisputed world light-heavyweight champion before he turns 50 next year.

Hopkins, the oldest ever world champion on record, defeated Karo Murat to successfully defend his IBF belt last October. In 2001, he unified the middleweight division by defeating Felix Trinidad in New York and is keen to repeat the same in the light-heavyweight class.

The 49-year-old wants to face current WBA champion Beibut Shumenov in a potential unification bout, and has also called for WBA champion Adonis Stevenson - who saw off the challenge of Tony Bellew to keep his title in December - to fight WBO belt-holder Sergey Kovalev to unify the titles.

Kovalev took the WBO title off Nathan Cleverly in August but Hopkins, who rebranded himself 'The Alien' in 2013, wants to create "something historic" as he approaches his landmark birthday.

"Let's come together and do something very historic," Hopkins told AFP. "For my legacy, what a great thing it would be to be the undisputed light-heavyweight champion at 50.

"There's a great tournament to be made. It's not like I don't have nothing to bring to the table. We want to make the most money but also we want to be undisputed. It's the perfect time for me.

"I would love to be in position to do what I did in 2001. How amazing is it for me to be 49, hopefully not rapidly approaching 50, and still be relevant? You can do it when you have that competitive belief in yourself."